On 21st November (Tuesday), a two-judge Supreme Court bench pulled up Patanjali Ayurved for “publishing misleading claims and advertisements against modern systems of medicine”, Live Law reported. The bench also issued a stern warning to the company stating that it would impose a Rs 1 crore fine on every product if the company made false claims that the product ‘cures’ a particular disease.
The two-judge bench hearing the matter comprises Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prashant Kumar Mishra. Justice Amanullah said, “All such false and misleading advertisements of Patanjali Ayurved have to stop immediately. The Court will take any such infraction very seriously, and the Court will also consider imposing costs to the extent of Rs. 1 crores on every product regarding which a false claim is made that it can “cure” a particular disease.”
#BREAKING #SupremeCourt comes down heavily at the advertisements of #Patanjali Ayurveda against modern medicines and vaccination.#SupremeCourt asks #Patanjali to not make any misleading advertisements or false claims; warns that hefty penalties will be imposed.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 21, 2023
The court also… pic.twitter.com/TmNvUY1zUB
The bench directed Patanjali that it must refrain from making casual statements in the press and shall not make any such advertisements in the future.
However, the bench asserted that it did not wish to make the issue an “Allopathy v. Ayurveda” debate rather it wanted real solutions to the problem of misleading medical advertisements.
The bench has asked the Union government to come up with a viable solution to solve the problem of misleading medical advertisements. The next hearing in the case will now take place on 5th February 2024.
Notably, the bench is hearing a petition filed by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against misleading advertisements. In its writ petition, the IMA has raised concerns which according to them are a “continuous, systematic, and unabated spread of misinformation” regarding allopathy and the modern system of medicine.
IMA accuses Patanjali of making disparaging remarks on allopathy
According to the IMA’s petition, Patanjali’s misleading advertisements disparage allopathy and make false claims about curing certain diseases. The IMA has also accused Patanjali of spreading false rumours about COVID-19 vaccines and contributing to vaccine hesitancy.
Last year, the Supreme Court pulled up the company’s founder Baba Ramdev for making statements against modern medicine systems like Allopathy while while issuing notice in this matter.
The then Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had said, “What happened to Baba Ramdev? He can popularise his system, but why should he criticise other systems? We all respect him, he popularised yoga but he shouldn’t criticise other systems. What is the guarantee that his system will work? He cannot refuse the doctor system. He must exercise restraint in abusing other systems.”
